Saturday, June 23, 2007

DUE CARE

I was in Shah Alam yesterday. As we were passing a 'gerbang' structure in front of SACC Mall, the electronic signage there read "Sayangilah Keluarga Anda". And it was right there that our car was overtaken by an adult motorcyclist carrying a child passenger. No big deal, except that the adult was wearing a helmet, while the kid wasn't. Ironic, ain't it? Sayangilah Keluarga Anda indeed, bah!

The other day, I saw a guy with 3 kids doing some fancy tatoo in my neighbourhood, all sans helmets. In fact, the littlest kid was standing in the basket attached to the bike handles. Where did the guy keep his brain huh? You tell me.

Then, there are parents who walk along the roadside with their little kids and don't bother to hold their hands. If the kid suddenly decides to run into the middle of the road, siapa susah? Semua orang! Some parents do hold their kids' hands, but they let the kids walk on the outer side, next to the passing vehicles. Some even cross roads without guiding their kids. Don't they see the danger in that? Don't they care?

I once almost ran over a toddler on a baby tricycle who suddenly decides to move on from the roadside to the real road, while his minder was busy yakking with neighbours. Good thing I wasn't going fast in the housing area, managed to swerve and brake in time. I rolled down the window and gave a few words to the minder, never mind it was a pakcik, but I hope he takes better care of the kid after that.

I get quite miffed seeing stuff like these happening. [ apahal ko bengang ni Jie. ko bukannya ada anak pun ] Well, perhaps it's because I don't have kids, that I feel bengang when I see parents (or any adults) who don't seem to appreciate the fact that they are so blessed to have 'em!

Life is funny like that, sometimes. People legally married and raring to have kids, sometimes have to wait ages, or even end up waiting forever (moi!). Some wives endure all kinds of health problems during pregnancy and hours of pain during labor, some even end up in miscariage or infant death. Meanwhile some unmarried teenager gets pregnant and have abortions on a regular basis. For some who decide to continue with the unwanted pregnancy, end up having easy births, so easy that people around them don't even notice their pregnancy or delivery, only to then dump the baby in a trash can or on the steps of the local surau. This is all rezeki kurniaanNya, I know, yada yada yada, I'm just mulling, OK?